I stood up and glared at Hades.
"You promised you wouldn't hurt him." I said quietly, my blonde and red hair draped over my sky-blue eyes.
"I didn't hurt him." Hades said carefully, resting a blue hand on his chin. "I just... roughed him up a bit. And besides, why do I have to take commands from you? You're nothing but a rejected apprentice."
That brought back hurtful memories of drifting from world to world. I had been to Atlantis, to be mentored by Ursula. Arabia, as an apprentice to Jafar. Neverland, to assist Captain Hook. I was in Olympus now, under Xemnas's orders, to be mentored by Hades. I was bound to be kicked out soon, I knew it.
"I was going to leave soon, anyway, Hades." I growled at him, twitching the black and orange Keyblade in my hand. He looked at me thoughtfully, then nodded.
"I'm not questioning your decision, Rosaxi, but honestly, if you're going to be apprentice to a ton of villains, at least try not to be nice."
I scowled. "Honestly, who said I was off to be stupid intern to another idiot like you, who has nothing better to do but harrass one person, but lose every time it comes to a confrontation? I'm through with villainy, Hades, and you can tell all your friends. I quit." I turned around and headed through the exit.
"You're going to regret this, Rosaxi. You know you will..." I heard Hades call behind me, but I didn't care. There was one world left where I hadn't made a complete fool of myself: Halloweentown. Maybe Sora would be there, and I would have a chance to redeem myself. Just maybe...
I headed toward the largw, ornate gate, only to be almost knocked over by Heartless. "Watch where you're going!" I called, and headed toward the fountain. There, I saw, Sora, Goofy, Donald, and a tall, skeleton man battling a dozen Heartless and Nobodies. I pulled out my Keyblade and smiled. "Sweet, sweet redemption." I whispered. I came up behind one of the Heartless and bashed it over the head. The sudden attack made the other four look up in surprise, so I smiled and waved my Keyblade. Sora looked at me curiously, then waved back. He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted. "Alright, we'll catch up later. Let's just get rid of these Heartless first!" I yelled happily for the first time in a while. The joy in my voice shocked me.
When we had finished roughing up the Heartless and Nobodies, Sora walked up to me.
"Whatever happened to Hades?" he asked me, suspicion in his voice.
"I quit." I said simply, "He crossed the line; he promised me he wouldn't hurt Cloud but he did." I got a confused look out of that, but I shook my head. "It's a story for another time."
The tall skeleton man scratched his skull. "Um... pardon me for interrupting this reunion, but who are you?" he asked politely, and I held out my hand.
"I'm Rosaxi." I said happily, and he shook my hand.
"Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King." he replied, and I laughed.
"Well, that's cool." I smiled, and Donald and Goofy looked confused. "I'm entirely good now, being a villain isn't as fun as it used to be." I crossed where my heart would be with my right hand in the air.
The reason why I was so worried about Cloud? I was his Nobody. Anything happened to him and I was screwed. He didn't quite know that yet, though, so he will not stay out of trouble.
"Sora, can you help me? Obviously, I want redemption." I said simply, and Jack interjected.
"You can stay here!" he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. He looked at Sora for confirmation of his brilliant plan.
"I dunno, Jack, your plans don't always prevail..." Sora said weakly, looking from me to Jack.
"Oh, please Sora! I'll fit in perfectly!" I lifted up my orange and black Keyblade, and looked at my new outfit. I looked like a ragdoll, with my patchwork dress and grey, stitched skin. I met Jack's eyes and we both nodded, then looked at Sora with pleading eyes. "Please?" we asked.
"Alright." Sora sighed, and crossed his arms. "Just... stay away from Oogie. He and his henchmen are a little... out of it."
"I promise!" I said eagerly, and started jumping up and down. "I love redemption! Whoo!" I cheered, slapping Jack's bony hand. I was thrilled. I guess redemption was my favourite word now...
Jack was giving me a tour of Halloweentown when we met up with someone who looked like me. "Sally!" Jack said as soon as he saw her. He put a hand on her cheek and kissed her gently on the lips. Her worried expression stayed, however, during the display of affection.
"Jack." Sally said, putting a light, stitched hand on his arm. "Jack, Oogie's sending out more Heartless." she finished, and looked at me and my Keyblade. "Are you with Sora?" she asked me, and I nodded happily. "Rosaxi's going to stay here with us now, Sally!" Jack said, and placed a hand on my head.
"Jack, are you sure about this?" Sally wondered, and he looked a little shocked.
"I'm quite sure, Sally. All she wants is a little redemption." he replied in my behalf.
I interjected, "I've completely turned over a new leaf. I promise!" I crossed my fingers in the air. She looked at me, amused, and turned back to Jack.
"Should we tell Sora? Because, honestly, I don't think we can handle it on our own." she continued. I looked at my Keyblade.
"I can handle it!" I said, lifting up my Keyblade and alomst knocking Jack's jaw off. "Oh, oops!"
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